Physico-Chemical and Biological Applications of Biosurfactants in Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals : A Comprehensive Review

Surfactants are amphiphilic compounds having both hydrophobic as well as hydrophilicmoieties. They tend to possess surface active characteristics by decreasing the surface tensionbetween the interfaces. Generally, a molecule of surfactant consists of a lipophilic group,usually a long-chain hydrocarbon moiety, and a hydrophilic group, which might either be acharged or an uncharged polar group. Surfactants diffuse in water and adsorb at interfaces.The hydrophobic tails structure the core of the aggregates, whilst the hydrophilic head is incontact with the liquid surrounding it. The form of aggregates relies upon the chemicalstructure of the surfactants, which is assessed by hydrophilic-lipophilic stability i.e. HLB. Surfactants can be categorized into various classes based on the charge residing on their head,like positively charged (cationic), negatively charged (anionic), uncharged and expressingremarkable hydrophobicity (non-ionic), and the one having no net charge in form of zwitterions.Microbial surfactant possesses ground breaking attributes such as biodegradability, lowpoisonousness and biocompatibility making them suitable alternatives over chemicalsurfactants. With this article, we aim to review the production and evaluation ofbiosurfactants for their further use in various biotechnological and pharmaceutical industries